Twitter, Facebook May Pose Security Risk for Users

Israel Hyman runs an online video business from his home in Arizona. While he and his wife were on a recent vacation, they posted regular updates about their travels and itinerary on Twitter - and anyone that cared to pay attention would know that they were not at home for a long period of time. Hyman returned home to find that his home had been robbed and that the burglars were quite selective in what they stole. They took primarily his work-related equipment, not the typical consumer electronics that most people have stolen from their homes.

"My wife thinks it could be a random thing, but I just have my suspicions," he said. "They didn't take any of our normal consumer electronics." Now that his video equipment has been stolen, Hyman has started to question the wisdom of posting such detailed information about his family's whereabouts online.

In much the same way that people don't leave voice messages saying that they're out of town for 3 weeks or that they continue to have their mail collected while away, posting detailed information online may pose some risks.

Most people use Twitter and Facebook to communicate with friends, both old and new, and to stay abreast of the minutiae in their friends lives. So it's not typical that too many strangers are lurking, looking for information that could be used for malicious purposes. But there are also many people that use both Twitter and Facebook - and other services - to grow vast personal and professional contacts. These are the people who may be at much greater risk, as they may present more attractive targets for people willing to rob and steal.